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Budgeting can be challenging even with a stable income, but it becomes much more complex when your income fluctuates. Many freelancers, gig workers, seasonal employees, and commission-based professionals are familiar with the uncertainty of irregular compensation. With the right strategies, however, you can come up with a budget that allows you to manage your expenses, save for future goals, and feel less stressed about money — even during those lean months. Here’s a basic guide to budgeting with a variable income.

Tips for Budgeting With an Irregular Income

Just because you don’t get a regular paycheck doesn’t mean you can’t build wealth and achieve your financial goals. These tips can help you manage your up-and-down paychecks and feel more in control of your finances.

1. Determine Your Average Monthly Income

The first step in budgeting with an irregular income is to determine your average monthly take-home income. This can be tricky since your earnings vary, but you can get a reasonable estimate by looking at your income over the past six to 12 months.

Start by gathering your bank statements for the last six to 12 months, or if you get e-statements, log into your online checking account. Next, add up all of your income for the time period you choose, then divide by the number of months. This gives you an average monthly income, which will serve as a baseline for your budget.

Something to keep in mind: If you earn money from side gigs or freelancing, you’ll want to subtract anything that reduces it, such as taxes and business expenses.

2. Analyze Your Spending

Once you know how much money you have coming in, the next step is to figure out where it’s all going. You can do this by looking at your bank and credit card statements over the past six months, then listing and categorizing your expenses. This will show you what you are spending the most money on and where it might be easiest to save. Some tips that can help:

•   Begin by listing your fixed expenses. These are regular monthly bills such as rent or mortgage, utilities and car payments.

•   Next list your variable expenses. These are the expenses that may change from month to month, such as groceries, gas, and entertainment. This is an area where you might find opportunities to cut back.

•   Consider tracking your spending. To get a better sense of your spending, you may want to track it for a month. Simply record your daily spending with whatever is easiest — pen and paper, an app or your smartphone, or a budgeting spreadsheet found online.

3. Set Some Goals

Before you begin analyzing the data you’ve gathered, it’s a good idea to jot down your short- and long-term financial goals.

Short-term goals are things you want to accomplish within the next few years. This might include establishing an emergency fund (more on that below), reducing credit card debt, going on vacation, or putting a down payment on a home. Long-term goals, like saving for retirement or funding your child’s education, may take decades to accomplish.

Identifying these objectives can inspire you to stick to your budget. For instance, it might be easier to reduce expenses when you’re aware that you’re saving for a new car or a tropical vacation.

4. Consider Using the Zero Sum Budget

There are many different types of budgets but the zero sum budgeting approach can work particularly well for people with fluctuating income.

With this method, every dollar of your income is assigned a specific purpose, including saving and paying off debt. You’ll treat your short- and long-term financial goals as “expenses,” just like rent, utilities, and any other monthly expense. So if you make an average of $5,000 a month with your variable income, everything you spend or save during a month should add up to $5,000.

To make this budget work with a fluctuating income, you may want to take your average monthly income and use it as a salary for yourself. During months when your salary is higher than the average, you’ll put the surplus into a separate savings account. During months where your income is lower than the average, you’ll draw the additional funds from that account. In this fashion, you end up with the same salary every month.

Recommended: 7 Different Types of Budgeting Methods

5. Start Building An Emergency Fund

An emergency fund is important for everyone but particularly for people with inconsistent income. This is an account you can turn to should you get hit with an unexpected expense (like a big home or car repair) or to cover your essential expenses should your income take a hit. While the general rule of thumb is to keep three to six months’ worth of living expenses in a separate savings account for emergencies, those with fluctuating income may want to aim higher.

Once you come up with a goal amount for your emergency savings, consider these ways to fund it:

•   Open a separate account. To ensure you don’t actually spend the money on something else — and to allow your money to grow while it’s sitting around — consider opening a high-yield savings account specifically earmarked for your emergency fund. You can generally find the best rates at online banks.

•   Automate saving. Once you determine how much you can put toward your emergency fund each month and factor it into your budget, consider setting up an automatic monthly transfer into your emergency account. It’s fine to start small. Regular deposits will build over time.

•   Take advantage of windfalls. Consider allocating any windfalls that come your way, such as a tax refund, cash gift, or bonus, to your emergency fund to accelerate your progress.

Once you build your emergency fund, you can put your monthly transfer toward other savings goals.

The Takeaway

The foundation of any budget is your net (take-home) monthly income. To come up with that number on a fluctuating income, you’ll need to look at the last six to 12 months of income and come up with an average. You can then determine how you want to divvy up that money up so you’re able to cover your necessities, work toward your goals, and also enjoy your life.

The zero sum budget is one option you can try, but there are many other types of budgets. The goal is to get to a place where you won’t overspend during the high times or worry during the low times because it’s all factored into your budget.

Interested in opening an online bank account? When you sign up for a SoFi Checking and Savings account with eligible direct deposit, you’ll get a competitive annual percentage yield (APY), pay zero account fees, and enjoy an array of rewards, such as access to the Allpoint Network of 55,000+ fee-free ATMs globally. Qualifying accounts can even access their paycheck up to two days early.

FAQ

Will budgeting work if you have an irregular income?

Yes, budgeting can work with an irregular income. Most budgeting approaches start with your net (after tax) monthly income. To come up with that figure with a fluctuating income, you’ll want to look at the past six to 12 months of your income and come up with an average monthly income. You can then determine what your average monthly spending is, see how it compares, and make any necessary adjustments to your spending.

What are examples of irregular income?

Irregular income refers to earnings that vary in amount and frequency. Examples include:

•   Freelance work

•   Seasonal jobs

•   Commission-based sales

•   Side gigs

•   Bonuses and tips

What is the difference between regular income and irregular income?

Regular income is a set amount of money received at regular intervals, such as weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Examples include earnings from a salaried job or a passive income source like rental income.

Irregular income, on the other hand, varies in amount and frequency. It includes freelance payments, seasonal work, commissions, and gig economy earnings. The key difference lies in the stability and predictability of the income stream.

About the author

Julia Califano

Julia Califano is an award-winning journalist who covers banking, small business, personal loans, student loans, and other money issues for SoFi. She has over 20 years of experience writing about personal finance and lifestyle topics. Read full bio.

Annual percentage yield (APY) is variable and subject to change at any time. Rates are current as of 12/23/25. There is no minimum balance requirement. Fees may reduce earnings. Additional rates and information can be found at https://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet

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Although we do our best to recognize all Eligible Direct Deposits, a small number of employers, payroll providers, benefits providers, or government agencies do not designate payments as direct deposit. To ensure you're earning the APY for account holders with Eligible Direct Deposit, we encourage you to check your APY Details page the day after your Eligible Direct Deposit posts to your SoFi account. If your APY is not showing as the APY for account holders with Eligible Direct Deposit, contact us at 855-456-7634 with the details of your Eligible Direct Deposit. As long as SoFi Bank can validate those details, you will start earning the APY for account holders with Eligible Direct Deposit from the date you contact SoFi for the next 31 calendar days. You will also be eligible for the APY for account holders with Eligible Direct Deposit on future Eligible Direct Deposits, as long as SoFi Bank can validate them.

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Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.

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If you’re planning to shoulder all or some of the cost of your child’s college education, you’re giving your child a wonderful gift. And that’s just how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sees it — as a gift. Depending on the amount you offer, and whether you give it directly to your child or to the school, you could get hit with an additional expense, known as the gift tax.

Whenever you give someone money that is a gift, you automatically become subject to the gift tax. Whether you actually need to pay that tax, however, will depend on the size of the gift and what it was used for. Here are some things to keep in mind if you want to give your child money for college but avoid getting hit with any additional taxes.

What Is the Gift Tax?

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) , the gift tax is “a tax on the transfer of property by one individual to another while receiving nothing, or less than full value, in return. The tax applies whether the donor intends the transfer to be a gift or not.”

That’s a lot of words to essentially mean that if you give someone a gift of property, including money, without getting something of equal value in return, that may be considered a gift. And if you’re gifting, it might be subject to the gift tax. In general, the gifter is responsible for paying the gift tax costs .

Before you start worrying if you’ll have to pay a gift tax on the $100 bill you slipped into your niece’s graduation card, it is important to know that the gift tax generally only affects large gifts.

This is because there is an “annual exclusion” for the gift tax, which means that gifts up to a certain amount are not subject to the gift tax. For 2023, the annual exclusion is $17,000; for 2024, it’s $18,000. If you and your spouse both gift money to your child, the annual exclusion is $34,000 in 2023, and $36,000 in 2024.


💡 Quick Tip: You’ll make no payments on some private student loans for six months after graduation.

Gifting Your Money Directly to Your Children

Children are not treated differently when it comes to the gift tax, which means that whether you’re gifting your neighbor money for being really great all those years, or transferring $20K to your son’s bank account to help him pay for college, the gifts are treated in the same way by the tax code.

This means that a gift you make to your child for the purpose of paying tuition or covering educational expenses may be subject to the gift tax if the gift exceeds $18,000 in 2024 (if you’re single) or $36,000 (if you’re married and making a joint gift).

With the average cost of attendance at a private university now exceeding $55,000 per academic year, it’s conceivable that you would end up giving your child a cash gift that exceeds the annual gift tax exemption.

One way around this is to gradually put money aside every year in a 529 account. Gifters can contribute up to $18,000 in 2024 to a 529 account per person, per year with no risk of getting hit with a gift tax. That means a married couple could gift up to $36,000 per account, per year in 2024 without having to pay a gift tax.

Recommended: Paying for College: A Parent’s Guide

Paying College Expenses Directly

In addition to the annual exclusion limit, the IRS also waives the gift tax for gifts that are used to pay tuition expenses. There’s no limit on how much you can pay but the caveat is that you have to give the money directly to your student’s school. Otherwise, any amount over the annual exclusion limit will be subject to the gift tax.

This means that, in some cases, it may save you some cash to pay the school directly rather than first giving the money to your child and having them use it for tuition. It is important to consider all your options, however, as gift tuition payments may impact the student’s need-based aid.

Other Ways to Pay for College

If you don’t have enough savings, or would rather not deplete your savings to pay for your child’s tuition and expenses, here are some other ways to help your child cover the cost of college.

Help Your Student Complete the FAFSA

Submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a critical step when it comes to getting federal student aid. While the FAFSA is the student’s responsibility, when a student is considered a dependent student for FAFSA purposes, parents have a large role in the application process. As a result, you as a parent can help make the process faster and easier.

The FAFSA is a gateway to several forms of financial aid, including grants, scholarships, work-study, and federal student loans, so it’s worth filling out even if you don’t think you will qualify for aid. Many colleges also use the FAFSA when awarding institutional (merit-based) aid and some states use the form for certain state-based aid.

Take Out a Parent Loan

If your student has a gap in funding after tapping financial aid, including federal student loans, you might next look into parent student loans. You have two options: Parent PLUS Loans and private student loans. The best one for your situation generally depends on your credit history.

Here’s what to consider when looking at Parent PLUS Loans vs. private student loans.

Parent PLUS Loans

With Parent PLUS Loans, you can borrow up to the cost of the child’s attendance each year, minus any financial assistance that has been awarded, with no limit on the amount borrowed. This is true regardless of the parent’s income.

For Parent PLUS Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2023, and before July 1, 2024, the interest rate is 8.05%, which is higher than most other federal student loans. There is also a loan fee of 4.228%. As federal loans, however, Parent PLUS loans have access to multiple government-sponsored repayment plans and forgiveness programs.

Parent PLUS loans are not subsidized, so interest begins to accrue on the outstanding loan balance as soon as funds are disbursed and continues to accrue even if you choose to defer making payments on the loan until after your child graduate’s college.

Recommended: What Percentage of Parents Pay for College?

Private Student Loan for Parents

If you have good or excellent credit, you may be able to qualify for a private student loan for parents that has a lower interest rate than a Parent Plus Loan. Depending on your credit, you could potentially see a difference of 2% or more. Over the course of a 10-year repayment period, that lower interest rate can add up to significant savings. Keep in mind, though, that private loans do not offer the same protections and benefits that automatically come federal education loans.

If you’re considering private student loans, be sure to check your rates with multiple lenders to find the right loan for you. You can typically browse rates without any impact to your credit score (prequalification generally involves a soft credit check).


💡 Quick Tip: Need a private student loan to cover your school bills? Because approval for a private student loan is based on creditworthiness, a cosigner may help a student get loan approval and a lower rate.

The Takeaway

Paying for your child’s college education is considered a gift in the eyes of the IRS. However, parents can give up to $18,000 in cash to a child individually and $36,000 jointly in 2024 without getting hit with a gift tax. Parents can also pay for tuition directly to the college to avoid getting hit with a gift tax, with no upper limits.

You can reduce how much you’ll need to chip in for your child’s college expenses by helping your student fill out the FAFSA. This will give them access to scholarships, grants, work study, and federal student loans.

If you’ve exhausted all federal student aid options, no-fee private student loans from SoFi can help you pay for school. The online application process is easy, and you can see rates and terms in just minutes. Repayment plans are flexible, so you can find an option that works for your financial plan and budget.

About the author

Julia Califano

Julia Califano is an award-winning journalist who covers banking, small business, personal loans, student loans, and other money issues for SoFi. She has over 20 years of experience writing about personal finance and lifestyle topics. Read full bio.

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Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.

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Student loan payments are a heavy burden for many people working in public service. The pandemic-related pause on payment and interest accrual on student loans offered many firefighters relief from their student loan payments. But in October 2023, student loan payments resumed. Now, many borrowers, including firefighters, are struggling. About 40% of all federal borrowers missed their first payments.

Don’t let stress make you put off taking action on your debt. There are actually a number of relief programs that can help firefighters lower their monthly payments, even get the balance of their loans forgiven. Here’s a guide to help you navigate your forgiveness and repayment options.

Understanding Student Loan Forgiveness for Firefighters

If you’re hoping to become a firefighter, or already working as one, you’ve made a noble choice. Besides putting out local blazes, firefighters also rescue victims, educate the public on fire prevention, attend to medical emergencies, and respond to disasters.

While working as a first responder can be rewarding, repaying your student loans can be a challenge on a firefighter’s salary. The good news is that firefighters have options for student loan assistance and forgiveness, including Public Service Loan Forgiveness, income-driven repayment plans, consolidation, and refinancing. What follows is an overview of student loan forgiveness and relief programs for firefighters.


💡 Quick Tip: Often, the main goal of refinancing is to lower the interest rate on your student loans — federal and/or private — by taking out one loan with a new rate to replace your existing loans. Refinancing makes sense if you qualify for a lower rate and you don’t plan to use federal repayment programs or protections.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness for Firefighters

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program cancels qualifying student loans for individuals, including firefighters and emergency medical personnel, who have worked in public service for 10 years and have made 120 payments on their loans. If you’re eligible, this can be one of the best ways to get loan forgiveness as a firefighter.

Qualifying Criteria for Firefighters Under This Program

To qualify for PSLF, you need to be employed full time by a federal, state, local, or tribal government or qualifying not-for-profit organization. You can use the Department of Education’s employer search tool to see if your employer qualifies for PSLF.

In addition, you must:

•   Have federal Direct Loans (or consolidate other federal student loans into a Direct Loan)

•   Repay your loans under an income-driven repayment plan or a 10-year Standard Repayment Plan

•   Make a total of 120 qualifying monthly payments that need not be consecutive

Note that payments that would have been due during the pandemic-related pause count toward PSLF as long as you meet all other qualifications. You will get credit as though you made monthly payments.

If you have Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL), Federal Perkins Loans, or student loans from private lenders, these do not qualify for PSLF. However, you do have other relief and repayment options (more on those below).

Steps to Apply and Track Progress for Loan Forgiveness

To be considered for PSLF, you’ll need to submit a PSLF form. The easiest way to do this is by using the government’s PSLF Help Tool.

You can use this tool to request that your employer’s eligibility be reviewed (if it is not already in the government’s database), prepare and sign your PSLF form, and request certification and signature from your employer.

You can log in to StudentAid.gov any time to track your PSLF progress. Keep in mind that you’ll need to certify your employment every year and any time you change employers.

Income-Driven Repayment Plans and Loan Forgiveness

If you don’t qualify for PSLF, you may find that an income-driven repayment plan helps reduce student loan payments so they fit more easily into your budget.

With an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, you make regular payments based on your income and family size for 20 or 25 years. Payments could even be $0 if you’re currently unemployed or earn less than 150% or 225% of the poverty threshold, depending on the plan you choose.

Whatever balance is left at the end of the repayment term is forgiven.

Loan Forgiveness Options Available Through Income-Driven Plans

The following income-driven repayment plans may be eligible for forgiveness:

•   Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE), which replaced the REPAYE plan

•   Income-Based Repayment (IBR)

•   Pay As You Earn (PAYE)

•   Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR)

All income-driven repayment plans share some similarities: Each caps payments to between 10% and 20% of your discretionary income and forgives your remaining loan balance after 20 or 25 years of payments. (With the SAVE Plan, those with undergraduate loans will see payments decreased from 10% of discretionary income to 5% starting July 2024.)

The plans also have some distinct differences, so before enrolling in any income-driven plan, you’ll want to plug your loan information into Federal Student Aid’s Loan Simulator. This will give a good idea of your monthly bills, overall costs, and forgiveness amounts under each plan.

Payments under every IDR plan count toward PSLF. If you’ll qualify for this program, choosing the plan that offers you the smallest payment is likely your best bet.

Steps to Enroll in an Income-Driven Repayment Plan

You can apply for an IDR plan online at the government’s IDR request page. You’ll need:

•   A verified FSA ID

•   Your income information

•   Your personal information (address, email, etc)

•   Your spouse’s information (if applicable)

Once you log in online, you can click “I want to enter an income-driven plan.” The application process is quick and easy and should take about 10 minutes. You can save and continue the application later, so you don’t need to finish it in a single session.

Federal Perkins Loan Cancellation for Firefighters

A Perkins Loan is a type of subsidized federal student loan based on financial need. The Perkins Loan Program ended in 2017. However, people who received a Perkins Loan are still required to pay those loans and are eligible for the benefits of the Perkins Loan Program.

As a firefighter, you may be eligible to have up to 100% of your loan balance canceled in the following increments:

•   15% per year for the first and second years of service

•   20% for the third and fourth years

•   30% for the fifth year

Eligibility Requirements for Firefighters

To be eligible for Perkins Loan cancellation, you need to be:

A firefighter with five years of full-time service employed by a federal, state, or local firefighting agency to extinguish destructive fires or provide firefighting-related services that began on or after Aug. 14, 2008.

Process to Apply for Perkins Loan Cancellation

You can apply for Perkins Loan forgiveness by contacting the school that issued the loan. The financial aid office or billing office should be able to provide the necessary paperwork.

The college will process your completed application. You will need to provide them with proof that you work for a qualifying employer as a full-time firefighter to be eligible for Perkins Loan forgiveness.

If approved, you’ll get your Perkins Loan balance, plus the interest on the loan, forgiven in five stages, provided you remain employed as a full-time firefighter.

While you are enrolled in the Perkins Loan forgiveness program, you don’t have to make monthly loan payments. If you stop working for a qualified employer as a full-time firefighter, however, loan payments will resume right away.

Loan Consolidation for Firefighters

If you have multiple federal student loans and want to simplify repayment, you might consider federal loan consolidation. If you have FFEL, Perkins, or parent PLUS loans, you will need to consolidate to be eligible for income-driven repayment, public service loan forgiveness. or other relief programs.

When you consolidate federal loans, the government pays them off and replaces them with a Direct Consolidation Loan. Your new fixed interest rate will be the weighted average of your previous rates, rounded up to the next one-eighth of 1%. Your new loan term could range from 10 to 30 years, depending on your total student loan balance.

You can access the direct consolidation loan application at StudentAid.gov. You’ll need to finish the application in one session, so you’ll want to gather the documents listed in the “What do I need?” section before you start, and set aside about 30 minutes to fill it out.

During the application process, you’ll get the opportunity to choose a repayment plan. You can either get a repayment timeline based on your loan balance or pick one that ties payments to income. If you pick an IDR plan, you’ll need to next fill out an IDR plan request.

Loan Refinance for Firefighters

If you have higher-interest federal or private student loans, you may be able to refinance your debt with another lender to get a lower interest rate, lower monthly payments, or both. Be cautious about extending your loan term to get lower payments, however. Longer loan terms could mean you’ll pay more interest over time.

Refinancing involves taking out a new loan with a private lender and using it to pay off your existing student loans. While your credit rating doesn’t matter when you take out a federally-backed student loan or consolidate federal student loans, you’ll need a solid credit score and record of stable employment to qualify to refinance a student loan with a new lender. Generally, borrowers with excellent credit get lower interest rates and better loan terms.

You can often shop around and “browse rates” without any impact to your credit scores (prequalifying typically involves a soft credit check). Just keep in mind that refinancing federal loans with a private lender means losing access to government protections like IDR plans and student loan forgiveness programs.


💡 Quick Tip: Refinancing could be a great choice for working graduates who have higher-interest graduate PLUS loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and/or private loans.

The Takeaway

As a full-time or volunteer firefighter, the return to repayment of federal student loans after a nearly three-and-a-half-year pause may be putting a significant strain on your budget. We want to help you figure out your best plan of attack on debt. Some options that may be able to help ease the burden of repayment for firefighters include PSLF, IDR plans, consolidating, and refinancing.

Looking to lower your monthly student loan payment? Refinancing may be one way to do it — by extending your loan term, getting a lower interest rate than what you currently have, or both. (Please note that refinancing federal loans makes them ineligible for federal forgiveness and protections. Also, lengthening your loan term may mean paying more in interest over the life of the loan.) SoFi student loan refinancing offers flexible terms that fit your budget.

About the author

Julia Califano

Julia Califano is an award-winning journalist who covers banking, small business, personal loans, student loans, and other money issues for SoFi. She has over 20 years of experience writing about personal finance and lifestyle topics. Read full bio.